WBGU-TV earns two Emmy nominations

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has nominated WBGU-TV staff for two 2016 Emmys. The nominations were given to Tom Zapiecki, production manager, and Marcus Harrison, producer/director and Bowling Green State University adjunct instructor.

“I’m very excited that our work has gotten recognized beyond our immediate audience,” said Zapiecki, who has won two Emmys previously. Those awards were for the documentaries “Made in America: Lima Locomotive Works” and “Ketchup: King of Condiments.”

This year’s nomination, Zapiecki’s 12th, was in the Magazine Program – Feature/Segment category for a segment of “Scenic Stops” called “Pappy’s Sassafras Tea.” Zapiecki produced and directed this segment, which told the story of a small, family-run business in Columbus Grove, Ohio, that that makes authentic sassafras tea with a worldwide demand. “Scenic Stops” featured unique, unusual and unknown stories of people and places in northwest Ohio.

Harrison was nominated for the first segment of a yearlong series, “Addiction: Heroin and Pills,” which raised awareness and provided resources for opiate abuse and addiction. This was Harrison’s second nomination; last year he was nominated for the Magazine program category. This year’s nomination was in the Crafts: Research category.

“It always feels good to be recognized for your work,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing for the station as well as the University to be put on that scale.”

Earlier this year, Harrison won an Award of Excellence from the Impact Docs Awards, which are part of the Global Film Awards competition, for the same “Addiction” segment.

“Adding to the significance of this honor for both Tom and Marcus is that each of these productions used BGSU student employees to help produce these nominated productions,” said Anthony Short, WBGU-TV general manager. “We are very proud of Tom and Marcus and the students that helped them produce these informative and important pieces that impact northwest and west central Ohio.”